Academy’s Villain Professor-Chapter 141 : Chapter 141

Chapter 141: The Chase
Hocheol briefly glared at the doctor.
Had he approached with such insolent intentions from the start, or had he turned traitor later?
Either way, it was utterly unpleasant.
He wanted to pry information from the traitor before him, but this was just a doll recreating a past memory.
There was no way this fake before him would say something he hadn't heard back then.
Now that he had found his target and his objective, there was no reason to linger here any longer.
"First, let's get out of here."
The way to wake from this lucid dream was very simple.
However, as if to prove that this phenomenon itself was the effect of a pheromone created by a villain, the method was rather foul.
Hocheol reached out and grabbed the doctor's neck.
To kill a person with Hocheol's own full will.
Just like on the island before, that was the only way to wake from this dream.
Truthfully, it was a method he was very reluctant to use.
It wasn't a real killing; it was merely an illusion in the shape of a person, manifested from his memories.
But what was uncomfortable was uncomfortable.
Of course, he had killed that friend on the island, but that was an exception.
Because that was a promise between the two of them.
After a moment's hesitation, Hocheol let out a faint sigh.
"Alright, let's call this a no-count."
If it were even a little more human-like, even as an illusion, he might have hesitated longer.
But it was embarrassing to even call this a person.
The proof was the doctor, who couldn't even resist in the slightest despite being about to die.
A real person would at least be flustered.
But since such a situation had never occurred in Hocheol's memory, there was no reaction whatsoever.
Eventually, Hocheol applied force to the hand gripping the neck.
Crack—
The faint pulse of life he had felt just moments before vanished instantly.
Hocheol frowned.
To think his past self had done such things so casually.
Looking back now, it was a truly incomprehensible act.
And as the condition was met, the headache he had felt upon first entering this place washed over him.
He wondered if it was because the pheromone directly stimulated the brain.
He endured it with a frown and looked around.
Vivid cracks appeared in the solid, clear world.
The sky collapsed, and the ground overturned.
Simultaneously, his consciousness began to blur.
It was definitely a good thing to get out before he stayed too long and became further consumed by his past self.
However.
He turned and looked out the window at the city.
Just a few kilometers from here.
Right now, the villain Jeong Hocheol's ego was completely suppressed, and he could act on his own will.
If he ran now, he might be able to meet them, but...
"If I meet them now, it would be different from the promise."
Hocheol let out a smirk.
Then, amidst the crumbling world, he closed his eyes.
Hocheol, opening his eyes again, silently looked up at the ceiling.
The uniquely designed light fixture of a Bureau of Justice interrogation room.
It was proof that he had fully returned.
He took out his phone to check the time, then silently covered his eyes with the back of his hand.
He muttered quietly.
"In reality, barely a minute has passed. But since the perceived time was in years, the sense of disconnect is considerable."
It was a different kind of distortion from when the time scale had been twisted after a trip to a gate.
Quickly reviewing several years of his memories as a villain had consumed a great deal of mental energy.
It was even more so because those few years were a period where the worst parts of his life had been concentrated.
He spent a long time silently composing his breathing.
Only after several minutes did he finally remove the hand covering his eyes.
"Is this also a side effect, if you can call it that?"
Hocheol slowly opened his eyes and looked around.
Not even self-awareness.
A trace that faint.
No, only a lingering scent remained.
But in the current Hocheol, a small part of his past villainous self lingered, momentarily exuding the atmosphere of his past.
Compared to the real thing, it was very faint and fleeting, but.
It displayed a presence intense enough to dominate the entire space.
The female villain sitting in front of him, of course, but even the agents in the situation room next to the interrogation room were momentarily tempted to draw the guns at their waists and aim at Hocheol.
That was how vivid and intense the image of death Hocheol projected was, incomparable to a mere gun or sword.
It was closer to a natural disaster than a mere weapon.
Hocheol, completely unaware of their reaction, was simply lost in thought.
Half-closed eyes, and between them, a somewhat vacant gaze.
"Hah."
A faint sigh escaped his lips.
With that alone, the air in the interrogation room no, the space itself pressed down on them.
While the other agents stood tense, gripping their firearms, only the Bureau Chief watched Hocheol through the glass with a still-relaxed demeanor.
As someone who knew the villainous Hocheol, he was well aware that something of this level was, in fact, rather safe.
"Such a fuss."
Of course, the agents who knew nothing of this simply looked at him with respectful eyes.
In this harsh environment where they themselves were struggling to breathe, his appearance of not just being free of anxiety, but even relaxed, seemed so incredible.
"B-but, shouldn't we at least call for backup..."
"No. He'll be back to normal soon enough anyway."
And just as he said, the pressure from moments ago vanished in an instant.
Hocheol's body went limp, and he sluggishly rose from his chair.
"I'm mentally drained, so my stamina is flagging too. I need to get something to eat first."
Muttering this, he walked towards the interrogation room door.
Gripping the doorknob, with his body halfway out of the room, he blinked.
The agents were instinctively aiming their guns at him.
Hocheol sighed again.
"If you're just going to blame me after shooting out of fear, then don't shoot in the first place."
Then he gave the Bureau Chief a look.
"You all step out for a moment."
At the Bureau Chief's words, the agents hesitated but put away their guns and disappeared from outside the room.
Confirming there were no listening ears, the Bureau Chief spoke first.
"So. Did you achieve your goal?"
"Yeah. I found it."
Hocheol leaned his back against the one-way mirror, arms crossed.
"And that one inside. I don't know about resurrection, but I heard keywords related to transcendence. For the time being, forget about investigations and just block all outside contact. If information leaks because some low-level Association member talks to her, things will get complicated."
"I know that much. By the way."
The chief looked Hocheol up and down.
"You. To be honest, you don't look like you're in great shape."
Since opening his eyes, not only had his expression been dark, but he had been constantly frowning.
"It's fine. I just reviewed all the villainous things I did in the past. You could say my old personality has seeped in a bit. But I know very well now that it was wrong, so you don't have to worry too much."
"That sounds dangerous."
"It's all in how you take it."
Hocheol brushed it off and took a USB out of his pocket, holding it out.
"This. Let's share the contents once they're organized."
Since there had been some prior explanation, the Bureau Chief put the USB in his pocket without any further questions.
"Don't trust anyone. You have to do this alone too."
"Analyzing security encryption at my position."
The Bureau Chief laughed emptily.
Unlike Hocheol or the Dean, he didn't yet have anyone he could unconditionally trust.
Thanks to that, for this matter, he was handling everything alone without any help.
Hocheol pushed himself off the wall again.
And, to not miss even the slightest possibility, he asked.
"The medical officer from my old organization. Have you captured or located them?"
"The medical officer. I have no clue."
It was the expected answer, so Hocheol nodded nonchalantly.
"Not a combatant, so their priority must have been pushed way back."
At the time, there were over ten executives who needed to be apprehended immediately.
There were even some they couldn't catch.
The Association and the heroes didn't have the luxury to allocate resources to non-combat personnel.
In fact, even Hocheol himself hadn't realized he needed to catch him back then.
But why such a question all of a sudden?
The answer soon came to him.
The chief, slightly flustered, asked back.
"Is that person the key clue?"
"For now."
"How do you plan to find them?"
It wasn't as if he could mobilize the Association's manpower.
Without any related information, finding a person was ultimately a game where numbers were king.
But since he couldn't mobilize the Association's manpower, it wouldn't be easy, even for Hocheol.
"That's fine."
It wasn't for nothing that he had entrusted the USB to the Bureau Chief.
"Because I have manpower I can mobilize too."
From tracking to securing.
Finding a person through the Association always required a reason and a purpose.
In that process, it was a natural consequence for the story to leak.
In that sense, Hocheol's personal method was much better.
Not only did they not ask for reasons like the Association, but it was also much faster, more accurate, and had no messy aftermath.
However, if there was one drawback.
Hocheol, arms crossed, muttered with some dissatisfaction.
"I hate going to the Black Market when it's hot because it stinks, though."
It couldn't be helped.
The benefit was worth enduring that much.
"The Black Market? Ah."
The Bureau Chief was briefly puzzled but nodded as if he quickly understood.
"For you, it wouldn't be strange at all to have connections with the LUNAR Auction."
He was still unaware of the Peacemaker incident, but he had confirmed through a that they had received cooperation from the LUNAR Auction due to the drug incident that followed.
It was a pretty deep relationship, so finding one person should be...
"Ah, they're not for information. They're for capturing the target once I find their exact location."
"Then?"
Hocheol smirked and walked out of the situation room.
"There is. A peeping-tom old geezer."
Then, as if he just remembered, he pointed to the female villain left alone in the interrogation room and added a word.
"Her trait is decent, so coax her well. You can't give her cigarettes, but you can at least provide baths and snacks, right?"
The Bureau Chief nodded.
Arriving at the first-floor lobby, he found Jian and Sohee sitting in the cafe.
They noticed Hocheol at the same time.
Jian shot up and ran out of the cafe.
"Mister!"
She ran over quickly and circled around him.
Following her, Sohee also finished her drink, returned the cup, and approached Hocheol to ask.
"Are you all done with your business?"
"For now, my work here is finished."
"The way you say it sounds like you still have work to do elsewhere."
Hocheol gave a slight nod.
"Yeah. I need to go to the Black Market."
"The Black Market? Why there?"
"There's something I need to find."
"The Black Market!"
At those words, Jian's eyes lit up as she grabbed Hocheol's arm.
"Mister! I want to go too!"
"I said no. You're forbidden from any external activities until the investigation is over..."
"It is over!"
"Hmm?"
Hocheol asked back, as if he hadn't expected it at all.
"It's over?"
"Yes. Now I just need to wait for the results!"
"Is that so?"
Hocheol looked at Jian with a proud expression.
For nearly a month, she had suffered, going back and forth between the Association's Bureau of Justice, Bureau of Information, and Bureau of Medical Services every day.
In truth, it was a grueling schedule that would have mentally exhausted or broken an ordinary person, yet Jian endured it all without causing a single incident.
Though he had said he trusted her, Hocheol had been prepared for her to cause a major incident that he would have to clean up, so it was a pleasant miscalculation.
He reached out and lightly patted Jian's head.
"You worked hard."
Then he simultaneously turned his gaze to Sohee and said.
"You too."
Sohee's eyes widened in surprise.
In fact, her job had become much harder after she was assigned to supervise Jian than when she was monitoring Hocheol.
However, her colleagues at the Bureau of Justice, and everyone else for that matter, far from understanding her hardship, mostly ignored or mocked her, saying her job was easier than when she was with Hocheol.
Unrecognized and unconsoled by anyone, she was, in fact, under more stress than Jian.
But Hocheol was different.
She smiled, her eyes crinkling.
"Thank you for recognizing it."
"Mister! I really held back! So, please? Huh?"
"What do you plan to do there?"
She bounced on the balls of her feet and shouted.
"Clothes! I want to buy clothes!"
"Clothes?’’
"Yes!"
Jian clasped her hands as if in prayer and looked up at Hocheol with sparkling eyes.
"Right, I guess you wouldn't have had time to pack your personal belongings."
"Exactly!"
It was only natural.
Jian's capture by Hocheol was an accident.
And in the midst of it, she had been betrayed.
With all her personal belongings at her organization's headquarters, how could she have had time to pack them?
Now that the headquarters tower had collapsed, there was no way to retrieve them.
"One of them even has a hole in it, so I can't wear it anymore! This is a real human rights violation!"
Hocheol turned his gaze to Sohee with a "is that true?" expression.
Sohee, standing a step behind, added a supplementary explanation.
"As for clothes, I can bring some from my home. But I can't have her wearing hand-me-downs for the rest of her life. Most importantly."
Sohee slightly bowed her head and placed a hand on her chest.
"I can somehow manage with other clothes even if the size is a little off, but the underwear doesn't fit me at all."
Grrrrrr—
Jian, turning her head back, narrowed her eyes and made a bizarre noise.
Though they usually got along fine, whenever a topic she disliked came up, she acted like a cat doused with water, which was quite amusing.
Still, as if used to it now, Sohee calmly stretched out a hand and shouted firmly.
"No! Wait!"
At that sight, Hocheol muttered in disbelief.
"She's not a dog, there's no way that would work."
It worked.
Her disheveled hair settled down, and Jian blinked as if she had calmed down.
Hocheol laughed in amazement.
"You've taught her something strange."
"It's effective, so it's good. Anyway, that's why it's a bit inconvenient in daily life."
Hocheol silently looked Jian up and down, contemplating.
She still pretended to be well-behaved only in front of him, but she couldn't be put in front of ordinary people.
A personality like a ticking time bomb, ready to explode at any moment.
Lacking ethics and morals.
Even if she could be controlled, the element of instability always remained.
Perhaps the Black Market, where cleaning up after a problem was relatively easier, would allow him to see her current state more objectively.
Hocheol nodded as if he had made a decision.
"Alright. Then let's go together."
Jian, who was going on an outing with Hocheol for the first time, widened her eyes in disbelief.
And soon, she cheered at the fact that she could go with him.
"Yay!"
Then, unable to contain her joy, she hugged Hocheol's arm again.
After stomping her feet a couple of times, she suddenly froze.
"...A woman's scent."
Muttering that quietly, her head tilted at a bizarre angle.
"Why do I smell a woman's scent for the first time?"
Should I just not take her?
Hocheol slightly regretted his decision from moments ago.